On the evening of Friday, July 28, a group of 30 people gathered to enjoy light refreshments and small talk before a docent of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) started to talk about the artwork featured around the Downtown area. The docent, Linda Cadariu, started the evening by describing how the DIA came to be, naming off affluent families that would be familiar to most Michiganders: Dodge, Wilson, and Ford. These families visited Europe in the late 19th century and bought art work to display in their homes, eventually realizing that these pieces could be enjoyable for other Detroiters and thus laid the foundation for the DIA to be founded. Continue reading “DIA Inside | Out Program Draws Visitors to Downtown Auburn Hills”→

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I have a rule of thumb about giving endorsements about the service industry. I like to try to have three positive experiences before I start bragging about a service just to make sure that the service is really consistent and proves to be of good quality on a regular basis. So today, when I drove to the McDonald’s on Five Points Drive, I had my third good experience in a row with the service and decided to brag about it. Continue reading “Third Time’s a Charm”→

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Whenever our Team is involved in business recruitment or expansion plans, I always make a point of conveying a message to the company that we’re meeting with that we are honored that they have chosen to invest in Auburn Hills. It’s flattering that with all of the choices a business has in terms of the community in which it could locate, that they choose Auburn Hills. Equally as flattering, if not perhaps even more flattering, are companies who elect to further invest in our community. This tells me that their experience has been good and they have the confidence to invest even further to remain here. In many cases, these companies might have locations in other parts of the state. So it is significant when Auburn Hills is selected as a company’s FIRST Michigan location. Continue reading “The Honor of FIRSTS”→

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Michigan summers and winter weather can pose many challenges to older adults; major disasters are even more challenging. Winter brings power failures and ice storms while summer brings heat waves and power outages and more. So how can you help your older relative or neighbor during and after a disaster?

I just read an informative blog on the Public Health Emergency website. The blog was written by Cheryl A. Levine, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst & Team Lead for At-Risk Individuals, ASPR’s Division for At-Risk Individuals, Behavioral Health & Community Resilience.

The blog is a very easy to read and gives great tips for during and after disasters. It’s worth your time.

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From time to time, citizens and businesses ask about how they can be involved in the community. Sometimes there are community needs that didn’t have time or treasure planned for them. So I thought I’d share a few words on the topic. Continue reading “How Can I Contribute?”→

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OU President George Hynd and VP for Student Affairs Glenn McIntosh present Dr. Dolly with a memento from the university.

I had the privilege of getting to know Dr. Pat Dolly several years ago when she arrived as the president of the Oakland Community College/Auburn Hills Campus. Impressed with her character and credentials, I couldn’t wait to recommend her for an appointment to one of our community boards. The added bonus was that Pat is an Auburn Hills resident. About four years ago, she took on a new role in the administration at Oakland University as a special advisor to the President on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. When I attended her retirement gathering on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, and heard those who worked with her speak of her accomplishments, it was apparent that she had found the perfect role at OU and they had found the perfect person for that role. Continue reading “A Career Well Done”→

On Wednesday, June 21, 2017, we bid farewell to our Team member, Lieutenant Cas Miarka. Lt. Miarka served the community of Auburn Hills in our police department for nearly 26 years. Starting out as a Patrol Officer and moving up the rank to Lieutenant, Cas has supervised every function of the department at one time or another during his career. His education and experience made him an asset to the community and he was truly dedicated to the citizens and businesses of Auburn Hills. Although I’ve known Cas for the more than sixteen years I have been with the City, it was in the last couple of years that I got to know him better as we worked together to deliver education to our business community about Workplace Violence Prevention and Active Shooter training. It’s a difficult subject to discuss with people, but he presented it in a way that gave our business community the skills they needed to deal with a bad situation should it arise. Continue reading “Retirement Wishes to a Great Public Servant”→